The most recent footage to emerge shows cyclist James Taylor travelling southbound in the cycle lane on Gloucester Road near the Travellers Rest pub.

(Image: Bristol Live)

The cyclist is just passing the sliproad leading to The Common when the double-decker number 73 service from Cribbs Causeway to Bristol Temple Meads flashes past him at an unsafe distance, forcing him to stray into the sliproad.

The bus then immediately brakes and pulls into a stop in a lay-by at the side of the road.

"In over 18,000 miles of cycling around Bristol and South Gloucestershire this was the closest I'd come to being sideswiped by a close-passing bus," said Mr Taylor, from Winterbourne.

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Mr Taylor reported submitted his handlebar-mounted camera footage to the police who contacted the bus company to warn them about the writing.

In an email, a member of the force's dashcam team said: "On viewing the footage I agree that the standard of driving falls below the required standard and I shall be sending an advisory letter to the registered keeper of the vehicle.

(Image: Bristol Live)

"I shall not be seeking to prosecute the driver of the vehicle however the transport manager and driver will be made aware of their responsibilities to other road users and that as professional drivers the standards they are held by are obviously higher than for normal road users."

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James continued: "I don't usually have any problem with FirstBus drivers but I'm concerned to see a number of reports of their drivers passing cyclists too closely.

"While the police will send a letter out on receipt of video footage, it's left to the bus company bosses to deal with individual drivers.

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"In my case, FirstBus didn't respond to my complaint for 20 days, during which this driver may have been on the road, in charge of a bus and still believing that leaving enough room for a cyclist merely means not actually knocking him/her off. Our area has increasing numbers of cyclists and professional drivers should know how to deal with this safely."

In a statement, a spokesman for FirstBus said: “We have been made aware of the incident, and have spoken to the driver about the importance of keeping a safe distance when overtaking cyclists.

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"During training our drivers are instructed only to overtake cyclists when it is safe to do so and to keep a safe distance. We train our drivers to be ‘cyclist aware’, which is very important in Bristol and the wider region as so many people are keen cyclists, and First is proud of its safety record in the West of England.”